Community Forums

Kahoona · 02-11-2020, 11:59 AM

Had not considered the ice maker's draw. It is on but only draws when dumping ice. I'll check.

I got on the phone with a tech at Xantrex. He took me through some checks and here is what was decided.

25a @ 12v is not a lot but in this case I draw >25a with everything disconnected from the inverter so I do have a problem somewhere. The problem was isolated to the 15a breaker or #2 breaker. The #1 breaker (20a) has <10adc draw.

After checking all outlets with each breaker off in turn I found everything was on the #2 or 15a breaker and I could find nothing that was fed by the 29a breaker. Since these breakers only feed the outlets then that is odd. I have not checked the ice maker outlet or the engine heater but nothing inside. That is not expected. I swapped the connection from inverter to coach and the draw swapped breakers which eliminates the inverter as the problem source.

I need to buy a clamp meter and check whatever I can find to isolate the phantom draw.

It would be nice to put at least one outlet on the other breaker.

It is nearly impossible to trace the wires under this RV. Everything runs together inside plastic flex and huge wads of foam but I will see what I can do. Thing is that I doubt that that load would draw down my batteries in a matter of a few hours so I might still have another problem.

Kahoona · 02-11-2020, 03:05 PM

The fridge does not draw electricity when unplugged but the ice maker does. I have used it that way without problems in the past but, considering the problems I may turn it off while off the plug. I am still going to check the batteries but I need to chase that phantom load before I can use one of the inverter circuits. If indeed I have all of the load on one circuit only I will put the heaviest use outlet on the other. I still need to investigate every plug in every compartment to make sure I am not missing something. It may take time. I can boondock with the inverter off until the sun comes up.

TOM GUY · 02-13-2020, 06:00 PM

If you get a clamp-on ammeter, be sure to get a unit that can test DC, not just AC. They cost more, but that's really what you need.

HTH
Tom

Kahoona · 02-14-2020, 05:44 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TOM GUY

If you get a clamp-on ammeter, be sure to get a unit that can test DC, not just AC. They cost more, but that's really what you need.

HTH
Tom

Thanks. Found one. I will be looking for that fault as soon as I can find a place where I can get underneath without any mud. See what I can find.

Ray,IN · 02-14-2020, 06:02 PM

I have an old obsolete Xantrex RS2000, the stock equalize feature works great. My manual recommends monthly cycle(however battery mfgr advice rules IMO). The equalize voltage is 15.5 for ~one hour, be sure to unplug any sensitive electronics.

Kahoona · 02-15-2020, 06:38 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ray,IN

I have an old obsolete Xantrex RS2000, the stock equalize feature works great. My manual recommends monthly cycle(however battery mfgr advice rules IMO). The equalize voltage is 15.5 for ~one hour, be sure to unplug any sensitive electronics.

Thanks. Mine has done the equalizer cycle and it has made the batteries stronger.

As a way to check them myself I want to unplug and run the furnace for a while because the furnace is not on the inverter. It has a pretty large draw and if they hold up then the problem is entirely in the wiring. With the way these modern RV's are built that is the worst case because the wiring is an impenetrable mass. This will all take a while.

YC1 · 02-16-2020, 07:35 AM

Some wiring "problem" would not draw 25 amps without letting out some smoke. I know about exceptions but in the real world that is over 250 watts with DC voltage.

You could have two problems and that is normal.

Find a way to disconnect the inverter from the batteries and then do your heater run test. Heaters can draw 8 amps easily. If you have two let em run for a couple of hours if possible. Don't bake cookies of course. Watch the voltage at the batteries.

A hydrometer really helps you sort out batteries but like anything they can fool you too.

A load tester is not expensive and I highly recommend one.

Kahoona · 02-17-2020, 06:52 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by YC1

Some wiring "problem" would not draw 25 amps without letting out some smoke. I know about exceptions but in the real world that is over 250 watts with DC voltage.

You could have two problems and that is normal.

Find a way to disconnect the inverter from the batteries and then do your heater run test. Heaters can draw 8 amps easily. If you have two let em run for a couple of hours if possible. Don't bake cookies of course. Watch the voltage at the batteries.

A hydrometer really helps you sort out batteries but like anything they can fool you too.

A load tester is not expensive and I highly recommend one.

I have had to give away hundreds of tools to get this traveling circus under weight and on the road

. Now I will buy a Load tester to go with the amp clamp I bought to look for problems. I will use it though. Next time I am someplace where I can get Amazon deliveries I'll get one. I agree.
I have used the heater quite a bit with the inverter and charger turned off and it barely puts a dent in the batteries. Does that count? It is an odd thing but all of the inverter loads are installed on one breaker. Can't find anything on the other. The breaker that has the loads has the 25a dc draw even with everything unplugged. There are things like block heater that I have not yet checked but I think those don't run through the inverter. When it first happened the generator wouldn't crank, and the furnace wouldn't go but the lights and fans (not on the inverter) were fine. Now things seem much better. I am stumped. I am going to unplug it and run the heater like you said.or the PC which can draw 500w ac just to see how those batteries hold up now. I'll post back later.

Ray,IN · 02-17-2020, 10:26 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kahoona

I have had to give away hundreds of tools to get this traveling circus under weight and on the road

. Now I will buy a Load tester to go with the amp clamp I bought to look for problems. I will use it though. Next time I am someplace where I can get Amazon deliveries I'll get one. I agree.
I have used the heater quite a bit with the inverter and charger turned off and it barely puts a dent in the batteries. Does that count? It is an odd thing but all of the inverter loads are installed on one breaker. Can't find anything on the other. The breaker that has the loads has the 25a dc draw even with everything unplugged. There are things like block heater that I have not yet checked but I think those don't run through the inverter. When it first happened the generator wouldn't crank, and the furnace wouldn't go but the lights and fans (not on the inverter) were fine. Now things seem much better. I am stumped. I am going to unplug it and run the heater like you said.or the PC which can draw 500w ac just to see how those batteries hold up now. I'll post back later.

You don't need to buy stuff like that, there are rental stores in practically every town/city, plus Autozone "rents" tools for free, you leave your CC # with them until you return the tool, if you don't return the tool- you bought them a new one.

Kahoona · 02-18-2020, 08:25 AM

Too warm here to run the heater last night so will have to wait for a cooler evening to test.

Kahoona · 02-23-2020, 07:33 AM

I think that I have narrowed it down a bit. As suggested I ran the fan, actually overnight in 40f weather and it did not draw down the batteries. I was able to run everything including the both computers during the day using the one good 15a circuit without a problem. It seems that the 20a circuit in where the problem lives. The outlets on the 20a one do not work and when that breaker is on the phantom draw appears. I keep the 20a breaker on the inverter off and all is fine but 3/4 of the outlets do nit work. Also when the generator is on it does power those outlets which do work then but the generator seems to be working too hard. I have to shut off that circuit at the inside panel too for safety. I think I have a short or partial short that is dangerous!!

Since we are camping on beaches along the Louisiana and Texas coast I will just leave the circuit breakers off until we hit a campground for laundry and mail and I can get underneath with a clamp gauge and and use a circuit analyzer inside to see if I can isolate it.
Please stay tuned for further developments. Thanks for all of the advice.